ABOUT PUREJO

I Johanna Thomas founded PureJo through my love and passion for natural health and wellbeing matched with a desire to help and make people more aware.

Life is a journey and I am here because I have been through multiple health issues, some of which I still battle. I have become an empowered wellness nut and I adore food as much as ever only now appreciating that what I put into my mouth will become me thus my diet today is very different from how it used to be!

Through this journey I never managed to get the answers or cures I needed from conventional western medicine. I feel doctors are paid by big pharmaceutical companies to throw drugs at the symptoms we have rather than trying to find the cause and heal that. Then these drugs we take give us side effects that we have to go back and get more drugs to help with those – it is a vicious circle. So my quest began to listen to my body and realize the power of food and stress management especially to make me feel good. What you put into your mouth is only one part of wellness though. By balancing and nourishing the body with lifestyle and positive thoughts the body can adjust and heal itself.

I have things to learn, love, teach and play. There are still contradictions in my life and everyday I have to remind myself not to beat myself up about being imperfect. With so much knowledge from learning and trying to heal myself over the years I now want to share it all with you and teach others that the decisions they make today will define their tomorrow.

There is no quick cure or diet that will fix everything for everyone. It is about bio individuality – one person’s nourishment is another person’s poison so we have to find what works for ourselves.

Take control of your health and you will have wealth.

Strive for your own Brilliance – not perfection – be the best version of yourself.

PureJo I hope will inspire you to embrace a more positive, toxic free outlook and use food as medicine.

Living and working in Dubai I discovered my first diet and fitness book – Body for Life by Bill Phillips – Following this word for word with early morning gym sessions I started to loose weight and tone up. Being in my early 20’s I was still partying and drinking hard though……. thinking I was indestructible.

Living back to London I reignited my love for yoga and would keep fit with various programs 360 days of the year. I read the Atkins Diet and became a protein-eating machine! All those poor chickens! I was a regular in the gym as well as doing DVD’s at home with weights on my ankles and arms. The Six Pack Abs were in the making! Yes I worked out and cut carbs on the plate but I loved food and would eat out nearly every night of the week. I could consume a good amount of alcohol having fun with friends.

As my body fat dropped over the years to 11% my hormones became imbalanced, especially my thyroid and I developed hypothyroidism. I developed amenorrhea (lack of periods), which continued for over 10 years in total. Family and friends thought I had an eating disorder but this was never the case – in fact I ate so much food was just burning it all off. I felt so sexy and strong with a six-pack that everyone envied!

Three quarters of the way through the year my world collapsed – I went through a very bad time and had a nervous breakdown – I developed severe adult cystic acne and a strong dislike for myself. I already had insecurities from being bullied at school but this was the darkest time in my life. By body gave in as my stress levels soared and negative thoughts took over, even my hair became sad – got dull and started to fall out in chunks. The years following where good days and bad days along with hibernation days! The sun was my real savior for my skin and my ultimate way of de-stressing and grounding by swimming with the fishes in the sea, if fact to this day it still is.

I had my third cancer scare living in South Africa and was desperately trying to balance my body and mind and find the cure. Determined not to have any medical treatments or pills I healed myself with the power of positive thought – ‘The Secret’ by Ronda Byrne

I tried very laser, lotion, potion, treatment etc. to get rid of my acne and balance my body – I went to the top dermatologists and nutritionists in NYC and Paris, saw Chinese medicine doctors, Ayurveda specialists but still to this day I get breakouts. My real love for natural food to heal the body developed after a trip to NYC and discovering Wholefoods Market! My reading and learning took on a new dimension. I threw out every single cleaning product and cosmetic I had that was toxic with parabens, SLSs etc. Spent a fortune replacing everything with natural versions as I learnt that the skin is our biggest organ and whatever we put on it seeps into our blood stream and gets absorbed into us. It then needs to be processed through our liver and other organs. I started doing yearly food sensitivity tests and tried to eat within the boundaries of those results.

I quit a job that was very stressful and where the boss was bullying and blackmailing me. I gave up alcohol and partying the nights away! I really decided to nourish my mind, body and soul. Holistic health and wellness became my true passion and started to listen to my body knowing that my whole being is connected.

As I gained invaluable health and wellness knowledge from learning andstudying my periods returned– after increasing my body fat to 18% and by eating healthy fats whilst not being so strict with my diet and routine. True love found me with a wonderful man (my Cowboy!) who helped me with my self-love issues. He pushed me to channel everything I had learnt and experienced to follow what I really enjoyed doing.

PureJo evolved to spread all the goodness I have learnt over the years with my blog and personalized advisory service. The start of my empire!

Everyday I learn something new. Knowledge is power and I am addicted to feeling healthy and wealthy. I am taking functional medicine, nutrition etc. courses to get the diplomas I want to better help myself, and my clients. I discovered my amazing Corrective Chiropractor and am currently working on all my subluxations whilst healing my leaky gut brought on by years of body and lifestyle abuse.